


Loyalist

by Coriopsis



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 05:30:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2610245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coriopsis/pseuds/Coriopsis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tarn goes to Megatron to confess that he is Agent 113.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loyalist

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by lethita-ismer's picture.  
> http://lethita-ismer.tumblr.com/post/65491215433/dear-tarn-mun-i-went-and-thought-about-what-i

Tarn shivered almost imperceptibly as he walked down the hall to meet his lord. Usually its was a sign of excitement, the large tank murmuring favored passages of _Towards Peace_ and praises for Lord Megatron.

 

Not so this time. One of the most feared Cybertronians in the universe trembled in fear. He had asked Megatron for this meeting to report a traitor; not terribly unusual except this time he was reporting himself.

 

Tarn did not want to do this. He'd hidden his shame through the majority of the war and now that 'the war was over' (and wasn't that a joke?) an ex-Wrecker had exposed the secret of a mole in the DJD. Fragger had done it just to be vindictive, Tarn was sure. If he survived this meeting, he'd find the mech that had outed him and make him pay for this humiliation.

 

However, the tank wasn't sure he wished to survive the meeting. Sitting alone in his quarters the night before, he'd wondered if he could use his voice against his own spark. His dual fusion cannons had also been tempting, but no. He couldn't. If Tarn offlined himself before confessing to his master, Lord Megatron would always doubt the remaining members of the Decepticon Justice Division. A leader couldn't do that to his unit; couldn't push his shame onto the four mechs that had _always_ served their master faithfully. 

 

Perhaps, if he was lucky, his lord would kill him himself. Shot with the fusion canon or beaten to death, Tarn didn't care. Physical pain and death held no fear for this mech. As long as his master didn't  _speak_ . As long as Tarn didn't have to hear his beloved leader denounce him, express his disappointment or anger that his most loyal follower was nothing more than a wretched Autobot plant. Tarn's spark clenched painfully at the very thought. 

 

Pausing at Megatron's door, Tarn rested his forehead against it, staring at the floor and swallowing. Too late to back out now. He had to confess. For his unit. For his master. Tarn pinged, requesting entrance, begging it be denied even as the door slid open.

 

Megatron sat at his desk. He said something, but for once in his life, Tarn didn't hear him. He moved into the room on autopilot, legs heavy, processor and spark blank. Lord Megatron likely told him to sit in one of the chairs across from him, but it still didn't register with Tarn.

 

The warlord watched his soldier warily as the mech continued to ignore his orders. Something was wrong. None of the DJD simply dismissed what he said, this one least of all. Suspicion shone brightly in his processor, news of a spy in Tarn's unit still at the forefront of Megatron's processor. He stood as Tarn got closer. If this was his traitor thinking he could add assassination to his resum e, Tarn could think again. Megatron's optics burnt and his fist clenched, prepared to beat the would-be assassin into scrap.

 

Tarn couldn't look at his master, much less meet his optics, Tarn's own trained on the floor. He would like to say he gracefully knelt before his lord, but a more apt description would be his knee joints gave out and he collapsed into a bow at Lord Megatron's feet. Optics closed, knees under him, masked face pressed against the floor, hands palm up over his helm as if in supplication, Tarn confessed his sins and exposed his shame.

 

He spoke briefly of his life before the war, giving his master the important details that led to his being recruited by the Autobots. How he had passed information to the Wreckers before having a revelation and becoming a true, spark-deep Decepticon. At the end of his tale, Tarn made a point of saying he had acted alone, without his unit's knowledge. Tarn begged his lord's mercy and forgiveness for them. Lord Megatron may still punish his teammates, but hopefully it would be limited to a reprimand.

 

Megatron listened to his formerly trusted soldier. At Tarn's initial confession, he wanted nothing more than to drive his fist into that dark gray neck, rip the purple mask off Tarn's face, and listen to the traitor beg and scream as he slowly died. As the bowing mech kept speaking, Megatron allowed his initial anger to bleed off. He had a quick temper, it was a character flaw he would admit to himself and had cost him in the past. It wouldn't get the best of him now. He would listen and think his response through calmly.

 

Tarn did not move, awaiting his master's response. Time seemed to drag, but he would stay quietly like this until Lord Megatron commanded him or moved Tarn himself. If it pleased Lord Megatron to parade in the whole army to witness his humiliation, the commander of the DJD would still not twitch a servo.

 

“Rise.”

 

Tarn moved smoothly into a kneeling position, arms crossed over his knee, head still down.

 

“Do you have anything else to add, Tarn?”

 

“Only that I regret a large part of my past but it has been my greatest honor and privilege to serve you while you needed me, my lord.”

 

He saw Megatron's hands coming toward his helm in his peripheral vision and tensed, optics closing again. The hands that touched his mask were gentle, but that didn't stop the reflexive flinch. Hurriedly, Tarn pressed his face back into his master's hands, spark disappointed that the joy of Megatron's touch was spoiled by his impending deactivation.

 

“Loyalist, your leader will  _always_ need you.”

 

 

 


End file.
